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Palestinian unity government to be formed Monday

Pioneer Press

Posted:
05/31/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
05/31/2014 10:34:11 PM CDT

Nation & World briefing

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by rivals Hamas and Fatah will be announced Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday, adding that Israel already has warned him it would take punitive steps against the new alliance.

The new government would be the most significant step yet toward ending a crippling seven-year-old Palestinian political split. But it is bound to increase friction between Abbas and Israel's hard-line government.

"The announcement of the government will be on Monday," Abbas said during a meeting with several dozen pro-Palestinian activists from France.

Abbas said Saturday that he would respond to any Israeli punitive measures, such as withholding the monthly transfer of some $100 million in taxes and customs Israel collects on behalf of his Palestinian Authority. The funds help keep the self-rule government afloat.

The long-running Hamas-Fatah rivalry escalated in 2007 when the Islamic militant group Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from the internationally backed Abbas in 2007.

Hamas, which long has launched terrorist attacks against Israel, is considered a terror group by Israel and the West.

After the April collapse of a U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Palestinian rivals revived reconciliation efforts.

N.M. radar picks up grasshopper swarm

ALBUQUERQUE, N.

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M. -- Weather officials in Albuquerque report a mysterious presence that showed up on its radar the past few nights has turned out to be of the insect variety.

A swarm of grasshoppers were detected over Albuquerque's West Mesa for the fourth night in a row on Friday.

Thousands join gay march in Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Several thousand people turned out for Cyprus' first gay pride parade on Saturday, exceeding the expectations of organizers who said the event's popularity shows that Cypriots are shedding their conservative attitudes.

Among the speakers addressing the throng, which as dotted with rainbow flags, was Cypriot gay rights pioneer Alecos Modinos.

"We hope Cyprus becomes a European Union member country that respects rights not only in words, but in deeds as well," Modinos said.

The Cyprus Orthodox Christian church condemned the parade and issued a strongly-worded statement saying it considers homosexuality "the human being's fall from grace and an illness and not a natural way of life or choice."

Abalone caught near Fukushima

IWAKI, Fukushima, Japan -- Trial catches of abalone have begun along the southern coast of Fukushima Prefecture. After the seafood is deemed safe in inspections for radioactive substances, it will be sold at a local market.

Fisherman Hideto Yanagiba, 48, said, "I feel relieved to be able to fish again after such a long time."